Haiti officials shut down boys' orphanage founded by US man amid molestation allegations
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The gate at St. Joseph's Home For Boys is padlocked in the Delmas neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015. Investigators closed the home on Thursday as they looked into new allegations of child sex abuse against Michael Geilenfeld who runs the orphanage. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery) (The Associated Press)
Haitian authorities have shut down a boys' orphanage founded by a U.S. citizen who has been targeted by molestation allegations.
Authorities padlocked the doors at the St. Joseph Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince on Thursday. About two-dozen men tried to prevent the closure, but an agent scattered the group by firing a gun into the air.
Haitian investigators are probing new allegations of child sex abuse against Michael Geilenfeld. They have an arrest warrant and searched unsuccessfully for him in recent days.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Geilenfeld has denied accusations of molesting boys under his care. In July a U.S. jury found a Maine activist defamed him by leading an email blitz accusing him of sexually abusing Haitian children.
Haitian officials say they are looking at new evidence and re-examining a criminal case.